I went online to find out the return on various investments and they’re all over the board. There’s no sure thing in this world unless you cheat, but no one wants to do that.
If you put your money into the stock market, depending on what you invested in and how long you left your money in, and where the market was when you pulled out, it could be anywhere from a loss to a gain of 12%. The loss doesn’t sound so good, but 12% does. But don’t count on it.
My preference would always to put my money where I could control it. There’s little control (actually none) when you invest with others and there’s a whole lot of chances for you to wind up in the hole. So, investing in your store is probably an excellent option.
So, how do you invest in your store and what return can you expect? Let look at the different things you can spend your money on.
Advertising will bring in more customers who will buy more merchandise. What’s the return on that? Well, if you’re selling at a “keystone” markup (50%) of selling price, and have 40% overhead, you’re left with 10% and then there’s taxes and markdowns. So, making that additional investment in advertising will come off of your bottom line and reduce your net profit quite a bit.
Investment in décor will certainly make the shopping experience more enjoyable and might get you a few pictures in a trade magazine, but those dollars won’t equate to a return.
I could go on about every aspect of your retail operation, but consider this: if someone offered to improve your bottom line by at least $500 and more than likely much more each month and it would only cost you $150 per month, would you consider that a wise investment? I would think so. A $150 investment to return $500 or more – now that is something you should jump at.
And yet, even though that’s what I’m offering with a subscription to myotbplan.com, some retailers are still reluctant to sign on. I even guarantee the results and yet, retailers would opt to buy more merchandise. More merchandise does not equate to sales, but it does equate to markdowns, excess invoices, and negative cash flow.
So, for an investment of $150 per month, myotbplan.com will guarantee an improvement of $500 or more. We’ve been doing it for almost 30 years. You need to start doing it today.